Franklin sets new contracts for police, service and clerical unions

Franklin City Council Monday approved tentative agreements with the unions representing Franklin’s police, public works and clerical bargaining units. The new three-year contracts will expire in 2020. ED RICHTER/STAFF

Franklin City Council gave its approval for tentative agreements with three of its unions on Monday.

Following an executive session, council unanimously approved three-year agreements with the Franklin Law Enforcement Association and Teamsters Local 100, which represents the city’s clerical and public works units.

According to the executive summary provided to council, negotiations began last year and all of the parties reached an agreement that was signed on Jan. 17.

Highlights of the agreements include pay increases and increases in the employee share of health care costs. Members of the three unions have agreed to pay 15 percent of their health care costs.

The public works and clerical bargaining units agreed to language allowing the use of up to 16 hours of compensatory time in a pay period as well as a 3 percent wage increase on all steps for each calendar year 2018, 2019 and 2020. Their contracts will run from Jan. 1, 2018 through Dec. 31, 2020.

The police union agreed to changes in the contract language that will require the police chief to notify the union if there is a change in the department’s call-out policy. In addition, language was agreed to for a shift bid procedure and a clarification about how vacant positions are filled after the shift bid has occurred.

The agreement with police changed members’ uniform allowance, increasing the number of winter uniform shirts from three to four and the number of summer uniform shirts from five to four.

Police pay will change as part of their new contract. The pay rates for current sergeants and lieutenants for the new three-year contract period were clarified to reflect current differentials, and then the differentials were by 0.5-percent for 2018, 2019 and 2020. With the 0.5-percent increases, the new differentials will be 10 percent in 2018, 10.5-percent in 2019, and 11 percent in 2020.

The union also agreed that employees hired after Jan. 1, 2018 would be placed in new pay scales with an increased number of steps and equal increases between steps, with a smaller general increase each year of the agreement.

The police contract is retroactive to July 1, 2017 and will expire on June 30, 2020.

The city and the union agreed to increase the current employee top step wages by 3 percent for each calendar year of 2018, 2019 and 2020.

As part of the 2018 temporary appropriations budget, Franklin’s non-union employees received a 3 percent wage increase, and their share of health care costs increased an additional 0.5 percent to 14.5 percent. City firefighters are paying 15 percent of their health care costs and received a 2 percent pay increase per their current contract.